Draft Affirmative
Published: 11 February 2019
The purpose of this instrument is to ensure there will continue to be a functioning statute book on exit day and an effective mechanism to maintain EU reciprocal healthcare arrangements in appropriate circumstance s if the UK leaves the European Union without a deal. Current EU reciprocal healthcare arrangements enable people for whose state healthcare costs the UK has responsibility (known a s ‘UK-insured’) to have access to healthcare when they live, study, work, or travel in the EU, EEA and Switzerland (and vice versa for people for whose state healthcare costs those states have responsibility (the ‘EU-insured’) when in the UK). The EU reciprocal health arrangements give people more life options, and support tourism, businesses and healthcare cooperation.
The legal framework for EU reciprocal healthcare arrangements is predominantly set out in wider social security coordination regulations which form part of EU retained law (the ‘EU SSC Regulations’):
- Regulation (EC) 883/2004 1 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 29 April 2004 on the coordination of social security systems;
- Regulation (EC) No 987/2009 2 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 16 September 2009 laying down the procedure for implementing Regulation (EC) No 883/2004 on the coordination of social security systems; Council Regulation (EEC) No 1408/71 3 of 14 June 1971 on the application of social security schemes to employed persons, to self-employed persons and to members of their families moving within the Community; and
- Council Regulation (EEC) No 574/72 4 of 21 March 1972 laying down the procedure for implementing Regulation (EEC) No 1408 /71 on the application of social security schemes to employed persons, to self-employed persons and to their families moving within the Community.
The EU SSC Regulations are predicated on membership of the EU. Further, they provide for reciprocal healthcare rights and obligations which cannot operate without the agreement and cooperation of the other state involved. This Statutory Instrument therefore:
- prevents, remedies or mitigates deficiencies in retained EU law by retiring reciprocal healthcare arrangements which are rendered defunct by the UK’s exit from the EU;
- transitionally preserves relevant aspects of the EU SSC Regulations in respect of states agreeing with the UK to continue these arrangements reciprocally; and
- makes provision to protect the position of patients who are in the course of treatment under the current reciprocal healthcare arrangements, in as far as the UK is able to offer such protection unilaterally. This provision also protects the position of patients whose planned treatment has been authorised before exit day (again, in as far as the UK is able to offer unilateral protection).
Return to List
|
